1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of refrigerators and, more particularly, to a refrigerator dispenser assembly including a water conditioning cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
Refrigerators having built-in ice/water dispensers are well known in the art. Typically, the dispensers are mounted to a door of the refrigerator and enable a consumer to obtain ice and/or water without requiring access to a refrigerator compartment. Many early model dispensers did not condition the water dispensed through the door. That is, the water dispensed was, in most cases, the same water coming from the kitchen tap. Overtime, manufactures incorporated filters into refrigerators to filter the water dispensed at the dispenser. In most cases, the filter would also be arranged to remove impurities from water feeding the ice maker. In addition to filters, many refrigerators include reservoirs that store filtered water prior to dispensing, thereby enabling the water to be chilled prior to delivery to a consumer. In this manner, the consumer has direct access to a supply of chilled water that could be used for drinking or cooking purposes. However, given the size of the reservoir, the amount of chilled water is limited and can be quickly depleted. When the reservoir is emptied, the consumer would be required to wait a significant period of time before having access to chilled water.
In addition to providing chilled water, manufactures recognized the benefit of dispensing heated water. Heated water could be used for cooking and/or preparation of heated beverages such as coffee, tea, cocoa and the like. However, in order to provide heated water, the refrigerator required an additional heating system. In some cases, a refrigerator was fitted with another reservoir to store the heated water. As with the above described system, the reservoir had a limited capacity and was capable of filling only a small container before needing time to heat additional water. In order to provide a larger volume of heated water, some manufacturers incorporated a heater mounted directly to a hot water line. With this arrangement, water passing through the hot water line was heated prior to being dispensed. Regardless, the additional systems added to the cost and complexity of manufacture. Moreover, the separate systems provided additional failure points for the appliance.
Based on the above, there still exists a need for a refrigerator having a dispenser that can effectively provide filtered cold and heated water. More specifically, there exists a need for a refrigerator having a single system that not only filters the water, but also operates to chill or heat the water as needed, depending upon consumer preferences.